Vanja #66 wrote: ↑14 Nov 2022, 08:42
That FIA decision explanation is the most amateurish one I've read so far. Stunning.
The Stewards determined that Verstappen attempted to pass Hamilton on the outside
of turn 1 by braking very late. He did not complete the pass in Turn 1 and his excess
speed compromised his entry into turn 2, at which point he made contact with
Hamilton.
So now stewards can determine that a driver being forced out of the track in a collision is actually his fault?!
Max had every right to try and take over on the outside. The fact he was side-by-side and slightly behind by T2 and ahead in T1 means he was slowing down more than Hamilton, so the above comment by stewards is laughable at best.
Max would not have passed by the exit of T3 had Hamilton given him enough room. Hamilton could have been smarter and taken a different line in T2 for the fastest exit out the T3 and Max could have even been a sitting duck for drivers behind. The fact he didn't shows that he wanted to force Max out even at the risk of a collision. At the end of the day, Hamilton is the one who caused the collision by not leaving enough room. I think everyone knows I'm 100% neutral in this, I'm not a fan of either driver
This inconsistency is beyond ridiculous and ruins the sport. But hey, it's great for the show and they'll keep doing that.
Yes?
If:
- you brake late into T1 and give yourself a compromised line into T2 that puts you on a route to cut sideways across the racing line (and therefore other cars) instead of at least being parallel to it but just out of position, and
- you are not alongside enough into T2 until the moment your dive bomb (I. E the only reason you ever got alongside) ends up in contact because you kept your foot in despite now admitting in post race interviews that you knew the space was not going to be there and did nothing to avoid contact despite being the car behind with no blind spot issues etc.
Well the blame is on you for that.
Max wasn't looking at making that corner, he was looking at making sure that his car simply stayed to the right of Hamilton at all times, even if it meant shoving Hamilton off at T2 exit, which is exactly where Maxs car was headed, with his foot planted.
Maxs problem was that Lewis had the intent to keep on driving through the corner and not off the side of it.
Thats what the "should have left space" argument seems to ignore. Even if Lewis had left more space, Max still had his cars trajectory heading off the edge of the track because he needed to keep his foot in even at the apex in a race to make sure Hamiltons route out of T2 is blocked and pinched at the exit.
Its fine if Max wants to do that, but nobody owes him the right on track to steam in from behind, facing the wrong direction at the apex and have the defending car park up and wait till he sorts out his overspeed and gets his car facing the right way.
Thats why the stewards mentioned his line through T1 and into T2. They are explaining how he was out of position to ever make the corner while attacking the car in front. Nor was he in enough of a commanding position to dive bomb over the apex and hang Lewis out to dry on the exit.
Divebombs are for Xbox and PlayStation. I'm glad the stewards agree.
